Mexican town being policed by armed civilians

This is a discussion on Mexican town being policed by armed civilians within the In the News: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly forums, part of the The Back Porch category; Armed vigilante groups policing 2 Mexican towns | ksl.com
An interesting read, maybe this is what it will take to get the country back from ...

"He went on two legs, wore clothes and was a human being, but nevertheless he was in reality a wolf of the Steppes. He had learned a good deal . . . and was a fairly clever fellow. What he had not learned, however, was this: to find contentment in himself and his own life. The cause of this apparently was that at the bottom of his heart he knew all the time (or thought he knew) that he was in reality not a man, but a wolf of the Steppes."

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Too bad the citizens are limited to 22 LR,but it will kill just as dead as an AR15/AK47

Just pretend for a minute that you were a cartel leader, and you absolutely positively had to have this town, which by the way is NOT.. .NO it's NOT, a border town (see map below) And there were a few guys patrolling the town with 22 rifles...

Using just the weapons you got from the United States through their Fast and Furious program...how long would it take you to secure the town..?

I thought Mexican citizens (the law-abiding ones) were only limited to "non-military" ammo, thus the popularity of the .38 Super.

MEXICO CITY — In all of Mexico, there is only one gun store. The shop, known officially as the Directorate of Arms and Munitions Sales, is operated by the Mexican military. The clerks, in pressed green camouflage, are soldiers.
The only gun store in Mexico isn't very busy.
To go shopping for a gun in Mexico, customers must come to Mexico City — even if they live 1,300 miles away in Juárez. To gain entry to the store, which is on a military base, customers must present valid identification, pass through a metal detector, and surrender cell phones and cameras.
To purchase a gun, clients must submit references and prove that their income is honestly earned, their record is free of criminal charges and their military obligations, if any, have been completed with honor. They are fingerprinted, photographed, and, if judged worthy of owning a weapon to protect their home, they are allowed to buy just one. And a box of bullets.
Mexico has some of the toughest gun-control laws in the world. Mexicans are proud of this. Yet Mexico is awash in weapons.
President Felipe Calderón reported this month that Mexican forces have captured more than 93,000 weapons in the past four years. Mexican authorities say 90 percent of those weapons were smuggled from the United States. The U.S. and Mexican governments have worked together to trace 73,000 seized weapons, but both refuse to release the results of the traces.
In Mexico City, Lt. Col. Raul Manzano Velez, director of the gun shop, knows with precision his annual sales figures. On average, the military has sold 6,490 firearms each year since 2006. Legal gun sales are decreasing, even as seizures of illegal weapons soar.
Daniel Mendoza has come to shop at Mexico's only gun store with a friend. He is interested in something to protect his family. He described himself as a middle-class businessman. Asked whether Mexico's gun-control laws were working, Mendoza said, "Ask the criminals."
"Only a tiny percentage of our weapons end up in the hands of criminals," Manzano said, less than 1 percent.
But Manzano is not a fool. "In our country, it is much easier to buy a gun on the black market than" at his store, he said.
Manzano said the wide gulf in gun laws between Mexico and the United States creates an almost irresistible market in arms trafficking for the powerful criminal organizations terrorizing his country.
Manzano recently gave a visitor a brief tour of his shop. Display cases filled with guns are arranged in two rooms. The first room, which is labeled "Police Sales Only," is filled with weapons that ordinary citizens cannot legally buy — the heavy stuff, such as AR-15 assault rifles, plus gas and concussion grenades, bullet-proof vests and helmets.
The second room offers a wide selection of U.S. and European shotguns and rifles — such as Mossbergs and Berettas — for hunting and competition. They are sold at very competitive prices but elicit few buyers.
There is a display for handguns for domestic protection, in calibers no greater than a .38. Glock and Smith & Wesson are well-represented. These guns are legally allowed only at home — not in glove compartments, on waist belts or in businesses.
If a business owner wants a gun to protect his cantina or muffler shop, he can apply for a permit. A different permit is required to take the weapon from one place to another. The paperwork for the latter takes a couple of weeks.
"In most cases, we suggest hiring a private security company, and, to refrain from the use of a weapon, we invite people to use other security mechanisms," Manzano said.
Alberto Islas, a security expert based in Mexico, said it is common knowledge that the easiest way for the average citizen to buy a gun is to ask a friendly local police officer.
"The cop will bring it to your house and show you how to load it," Islas said. "Of course, it is technically illegal."

100% of all upstanding adults capable of bearing arms actually being armed and about could indeed make a huge difference in any community, with respect to dissuading criminals from daring to violate the citizens. If only ...